Perhaps it’s just the circles I run in (like Fedi, for example), but I noticed a significant percentage of trans folks are really into computers, even before they knew they were trans themselves.

I suspect these are some primary reasons:

Computers (esp video games) are a socially “acceptable” hobby that alleviates dysphoria in trans people by enabling disassociation from their body. When we’re enraptured with a computing device, we’re often completely unaware of our bodies. We can, in a way, become pure consciousness and personality. If you’re feeling uncomfortable in your own body for whatever reason, this can be liberating.
In many cases, computers are a safe way to explore gender expression through various digital avatars. Whether playing a character of a different gender in a game, or completely adopting a different gendered persona on a social platform, trans people can experiment with their gender expression completely free of the context of their body or existing social expectations.
The internet allows connection with communities that are often inaccessible through in-person networks. This appears very well-known in the queer community in general. As trans people are an even smaller subset of this group, finding each other for community and support would be incredibly difficult if not impossible for many without the internet.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to have these thoughts. What are your thoughts on the matter? Am I way off base? Have you experienced any of this?

top 5 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] oftheair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

We think the concept of being 'online' is bad, ableist, and other such bigotry.

However, apart from that we agree with your points as to why some trans people are online; sadly a lot of trans men/masc, as well as nonbinary folks are still majorly excluded or disencouraged from computers as a hobby etc and are often attacked by trans femmes purely for pointing out the exclusion, bigotry or other negative experiences they have in the world, both online and offline.

[–] renegadespork@lemmy.jelliefrontier.net 5 points 7 hours ago

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for that perspective. I’ve definitely noticed trans women dominate a lot of online trans friendly spaces, so I can see why others could feel excluded from those spaces.

[–] melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm curious why y'all think the concept of being "online" is bad/ableist/bigoted. Is it the negative connotation with the term (e.g. "chronically online", a potentially ableist term in its own right), or something else?

[–] oftheair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 hours ago

Yes, you are correct, it presupposes that being online, chronically etc is a bad thing and should be used against people when considering their viewpoint etc.

[–] traceur201@piefed.social 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

I would add predisposition toward unhealthy focus on chasing career goals as a form of avoiding personal problems

And I suspect to a distressing extent, survivor bias: the ones we see are the ones who made it through the minefield that is society when it comes to trans people, and the ones that made could be disproportionately techies since that was so lucrative

edit: cis isn't an acronym, it's a latin prefix, as is trans, so they should be capitalized the same